AUSTIN, Texas -- Senior Luca Chatham earned honorable mention All-America honors and freshman Gary Haasbroek is in sixth place in the decathlon after the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday hosted by the University of Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Chatham competed in the 800 meters in his first career NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance, while Haasbroek opened the two-day decathlon with the first five events and tallied 3,998 points.
Chatham, a product of Dallas Wilson High School, earned honorable mention All-America honors with an 18th-place finish in the 800 meters after clocking a 1:50.60. Chatham is the second Roadrunner to earn All-America honors in the outdoor 800m and the first since Larry Brooks in 2007. He is the 18th All-America honoree in UTSA men's track & field annals.
Chatham broke the UTSA 800m record with a 1:48.38 to finish fourth in his quarterfinal heat and 11th overall at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on May 24 in Sacramento.
A native of Melbourne, Australia, Haasbroek opened the day with a time of 11.09 seconds in the 100 meters, totaling 841 points. He then posted the third-best long jump in the field with a 7.40 meters leap (24-3.5) worth 910 points, which advanced him into fifth place overall in the decathlon.
In the shot put, Haasbroek earned 630 points with a 12.39m (40-7.75) measurement. He topped 1.95m (6-4.75) in the high jump for a total of 758 points to move into eighth place entering the final event of the day.
Haasbroek wrapped up his day with the 400m on Wednesday night. He posted the seventh-best time in the field, running a 49.05, good for 859 points.
At the conclusion of the first day of the decathlon, Haasbroek has 3,998 points, shy of Arkansas senior Gabe Moore (4,023) and ahead of Michigan senior Jack Lint (3,997).
Haasbroek earned a spot in the national meet after scoring 7,395 points to win the Conference USA crown on May 10. His total was 755 points ahead of the runner-up and it moved him into a tie for third place on UTSA's all-time performers list in the event. Haasbroek also cleared 5.06m (16-7 ¼) for fifth place in the pole vault en route to being named C-USA co-Freshman of the Meet.
The decathlon will continue for Haasbroek on Thursday, starting at 1 p.m. with the 110m hurdles. The day will also include the discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m.
- UTSA -
